Definition: According to The New York Times: "Digital utopians have heralded the dawn of an era in which Web 2.0—distinguished by a new generation of participatory sites like Myspace.com and Youtube.com, which emphasize user-generated content, social networking and interactive sharing—ushers in the democratization of the world: more information, more perspectives, more opinions, more everything, and most of it without filters or fees. Yet as the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andrew Keen points out in his provocation new book, 'The Cult of the Amateur,' Web 2.0 has a dark side as well."
Opinion: I agree with Keen's view that "because Web 2.0 celebrates the 'noble amateur' over the expert, and because many search engines and Web sites tout popularity rather than reliability…it's easy for misinformation and rumors to proliferate in cyberspace." Social interactivity and community policing are some positive aspects to this new era, but it's shameful how so many people are misinformed on a daily basis and are not even aware of it.
Source: Michiko Kakutani, "Books of The Times: The Cult of the Amateur," NYT, June 29, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/books/29book.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=%22Web+2.0%22&st=nyt&oref=slogin
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